Monday, March 30, 2015

Fishing with Rich and Brandy

Fishing With Rich and Brandy
3/29/15


When someone asks to tag along when I’m going fly fishing up this way I don’t mind at all. When he says he’ll bring lunch and home made brandy, well that’s just dandy. You’re more than welcomed.

 Rich had already been fishing when I pulled in the parking lot about 10:00am. I messaged him earlier that there would be no hurry to get here being it wasn’t going to get above freezing temps till 11:00am or so. I found him up creek a bit, on the bank chipping ice off his fly line and rod eyes. I was surprised as there were about 5 other vehicles in the parking area and three other guys in the extreme cold weather in the water.
 We both walked back to the vehicles in which he gave me a quick sample of the cranberry brandy and apple brandy he had made. It wasn’t too potent but a quick wake up call. The cranberry was much smoother than the apple but both were very drinkable and appealing.
 I got my fishing gear on and with other fishermen fishing in front of the parking area we decided to go down creek some.
 The water was a perfect color as far as I was concerned with a touch of a greenish tint. It was a little higher than I would have liked and flowing a bit strong mid stream but there was no doubt the fish shouldn’t have any problem seeing our offerings. As I stepped into the water I had a bit of doubt for the morning catch though. The state stocked this catch and release area Thursday but with the frigid temperature I was feeling against my legs I felt the trout might be a bit sluggish and not to responsive this early. Maybe once the water warmed up it might get better.
 I lit a Cohiba Pequenos just about a half hour into the cold morning of fishing. We spent a few hours searching for a hungry trout but it wasn’t going to happen before noon. We seen a couple of guys catch one or two but the majority of us were just wetting lines and still searching.
 Rich and I moved around the creek searching in new areas for responsive fish for sometime. After the crowd thinned out some we had more areas to fish to ourselves. The sun was warming the creek water and air temperature and I was hoping that would get the trout a little more active. Rich finally hooked into a couple down creek from where I was fishing and waved me over. It appeared the trout were hanging in small schools so once we found a few takers we stuck around and had some fun with them. We were catching them on woolly buggers though I had many more bumps and swats without a hook up than I did with getting one to the net. Rich was having fun catching trout also and I was happy he was hooking up. Here’s a few. 

 A few fish Rich caught



 After having some catching fun and needing to warm up we headed to the vehicles to get something to eat and I was in the mood for more home made brandy with some cheese and crackers.
 After a filling lunch with venison meets ball sandwiches, cheese, crackers and more brandy we were ready to fish a couple more hours. I lit up another Cohiba and we headed down to the water. 

 We started again where we left off but the trout weren’t too responsive. While Rich stayed at it I moved around searching for another school of trout with my offerings. We were practically the only ones on the creek by now as the sun was fading and the air was getting cold again. I found some hungry fish upstream from Rich and called him over. We caught a few more fish on an assortment of streamers, nymphs and egg patterns before we called it quits. My feet felt heavy as iron bars as I stepped out of the water. I couldn’t feel them bend at the ankles from standing in the cold water for so long.
 Back at the vehicles I changed out of my fishing gear as the van warmed up. Rich and I exchanged a grateful handshake for the enjoyable fishing outing we had and he headed south towards the Burgh. Pulling out of the empty lot I lit up a Pequenos and enjoyed the smooth Cameroon tobacco flavor during the drive home. It was good to have the feeling back into my legs and feet as well as the warmth of the heat!!

Rich getting ready to net another 

My last two of the evening

~doubletaper



2 comments:

  1. That looks like a fantastic outing. You had me at venison meatball sandwiches and homemade brandy!

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  2. I knew about the brandy before hand. He surprised me with the meatball sandwiches. It was cold but good to be out. I can't wait for the Pennsylvania weather to turn warm.

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